She is one of 66,743 workers who stream into Albany each working day from outside the city. This legion of commuters swells the city's weekday population by nearly 70 percent, almost exactly how much another government town--Washington, D.C.--grows by day, and among the largest work-a-day surges in population in the United States.

In Dean's case, she drives daily from Rotterdam, one of the region's biggest daytime population "losers" along with Delmar, Cohoes, Scotia and Watervliet. She answers telephone questions from taxpayers at the state Department of Taxation and Finance's headquarters on the Gov. W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus in Albany.

Also typical of many Capital Region commuters, Dean said she tends to spend her money not in Albany, but closer to home at places like the Rotterdam Square Mall.

"Part of the reason is that the sales tax goes to the county I live in," she said. "Plus, we mainly do shopping on weekends."

Colonie at the crossroads

The influx of commuters to Albany's many state, federal and county government offices is logical. But the U.S. Census Bureau statistics indicate that the town of Colonie is almost as much of a magnet for commuters as the capital city is, percentage-wise.

Colonie's population grows on weekdays by more than 5,000 people, or nearly 64 percent.

Colonie Supervisor Mary Brizzell said the town uses its location as the best selling point for businesses and as a place to live.

"No. 1 is our location, how we are situated," she said. "We are right in the middle of the Capital Region. We are at the crossroads."

Lyn Taylor, president of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the commuter statistics show that Albany and Colonie are economic twins dependent on each other for jobs and commerce.

"Both communities are growing," she said. "They employ a lot of people and a lot of people travel from outside the area to do business in those communities."

Mistaken identity?

In some places, it is hard to distinguish between the two communities, Taylor said.

"Take Corporate Woods. It is almost impossible to know where Colonie ends and the city of Albany begins," she said. "There is a tremendous amount of business that takes place in Corporate Woods. That is a great example of why we need to work together as a region."

Among cities Albany's size, only the West Virginia state capital of Charlestown rivaled Albany's daytime population gain with an increase of 71 percent. The other big daytime population gainers nationally were either places with huge auto plants (Greenville, S.C.; Troy, Mich.; Southfield, Mich.) or Palo Alto, Calif., where Stanford University is located.

Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings said having so many commuters coming into his city is good for business and the city's revitalization, "but it really places a strain on us to deliver critical services." A factor in his budgeting for police, EMTs and other agencies is the cost of providing services to commuters, Jennings said.

"But I'm comfortable with it; it is not a challenge we can't meet," he said. "I'd just as soon see more people come in. ... I don't want people getting out of here quickly."